Francesca Orsini School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, UK
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CANNONS AND RUBBER BOATS Oriana Fallaci and the ‘Clash of Civilizations’ Francesca Orsini School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, UK ................ clash of Written in October 2001 as a ‘gut reaction’ to the attack on the Twin Towers, civilizations and published first as a long article in the daily Corriere della Sera and then in book form (in its original shape, twice as long as the article) in December 2001, contemporary Oriana Fallaci’s pamphlet La rabbia e l’orgoglio (‘Anger and pride’) was in its Italy twenty-sixth edition when I bought it in September 2004. Its follow-up, La forza Islamophobia della ragione (‘The force of reason’), has already sold 800,000 copies since its publication in 2004. Oriana Fallaci has emerged after 9/11 as the strongest and Oriana Fallaci most vocal Italian representative of the ‘clash of civilizations’ theory. This essay analyses the constitutive elements of her discourse (Italian nationalism, values rhetoric instead of history and politics, and violent speech conflating Islam, terrorism and immigrants) and tries to understand its appeal and the sources of its authority in Fallaci’s career, in order to outline the specific Italian version of the clash of civilizations theory. ................ There is a simple reason why we need to talk about Oriana Fallaci (1929Á 1 1 Translated into 2006) and her booklet La rabbia e l’orgoglio (‘Anger and pride’). Written in English by the author October 2001 as a ‘gut reaction’ to the attack on the Twin Towers, it was ...................................................................................... interventions Vol. 8(3) 444Á460 (ISSN 1369-801X print/1469-929X online) Copyright # 2006 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/13698010600956071 CANNONS AND RUBBER BOATS ........................445 Francesca Orsini herself as The Rage published first as a long article in Corriere della Sera, then in book form Á and the Pride, the twice as long as the original article and with a fifty-page preface Á by Rizzoli booklet was published by Rizzoli Editore in December 2001. It was in its twenty-sixth edition when I bought it New York in 2002. in September 2004. Rizzoli, which owns the Corriere della Sera/RSC group There exist also and has been Fallaci’s publisher since 1953, proudly claims that La rabbia e several web translations, i.e., by l’orgoglio has been the greatest non-fiction best-seller ever in Italy, selling Letizia Grasso to be more than a million copies in the first ten months of publication, and has found at B/http:// marketed the book relentlessly. Its follow-up, La forza della ragione (‘The www.borg.com/Â/ paperina/fallaci/ force of reason’), has already sold 800,000 copies since its publication in fallaci_1.html/;by 2004, and the two books are sold together with a self-interview as a trilogy, Chris and Paula advertised as a ‘gift package’. Its French and German translations also made Newman to be found it to the best-seller list, and by 2002 the book had been translated and at B/http:// www. travelbrochure published in Spain, Portugal, Holland, Hungary, Israel, Poland, Romania, graphics.com/extra/ Korea and the US. La rabbia e l’orgoglio provoked a furore in Italy on its oriana_fallaci_ publication, as we will see, and in France its publication by PLON was anger_and_ pride.htm/; and at followed by widespread accusations of racism by ‘red fascists’ and the B/http:// ‘Parisian press’ (Fallaci 2002). While La rabbia e l’orgoglio appeared after a italian.about.com/ ten-year long silence, after 2001 Fallaci made several appearances in print library/fallaci/ and on Italian television, intervening famously against the anti-globalization blfallaci23.htm/ meeting held in Florence, her native city, in November 2002; against the referendum to reform the existing restrictive legislation on artificial insemination; and, most recently, on the London bombings of 7 July 2005 2 Her previous (Fallaci 2005).2 A year ago a proposal to nominate her life senator was reportage for dismissed by left councillors in Tuscany, and upon her recent death after a Corriere della Sera had been on the Gulf lung cancer, a controversy erupted between those who immediately wanted a War in 1991. street in Florence named after her, and those who vehemently opposed it. In other words, not only Oriana Fallaci emerged after 9/11 as the strongest opinion-maker in Italy on the ‘clash of civilizations’ theory, but her success and the support from readers indicate that she gave voice to sentiments which find widespread support in Italy’s silent majority. Although the question of Islam divides Italians in a way that cuts across traditional political faultlines, and although Fallaci’s polemic is stridently against all existing Italian political forces, nevertheless the appeal of her polemic to a proud national identity and the defence of Italian territory against immigrants from Islamic countries echoes a discourse on the defence of Italy’s, and Europe’s, ‘Christian roots’ that finds favour among wide sections of the Italian clergy (including the current Pope, Benedict XVI), Lega Nord and other members of the centre- right coalition, and, most importantly, among many Italians. This essay will investigate the roots of Fallaci’s authority and popularity in the persona she built up over the years through her previous books and articles. It will then analyse the ideological discourse and powerful rhetoric of La rabbia e l’orgoglio, paying special attention to its articulation of national identity. My analysis will follow the development of her arguments .........................interventions Á 8:3 446 as they appear in the book, since the structure of her polemic is functional to its content. What is especially pertinent for us explore is the particular ideological configuration the ‘clash of civilizations’ theory takes on in Italy and the contingent conditions and Italian identity it is predicated upon. Finally, in the light of the readers’ responses and letters sent to Corriere della Sera, I will seek to assess the purchase of Fallaci’s anti-Islamic tirade and what it can tell us about Italian attitudes towards immigration and Islam. An eyewitness to history If I may start on an autobiographical note, I remember reading Oriana Fallaci’s books avidly as a teenager in Italy. I think that Intervista con la storia (1974, 400,000 copies sold) was the first book on contemporary history and international politics that I ever read. Then came her book on the American space mission (Se il sole muore, 1965), followed in succession by her gutsy, prize-winning reportage on the Vietnam war (Niente e cosı` sia, 1969, Bancarella prize, 430,000 copies); her heart-wrenching Lettera a un bambino mai nato (1975, 1,250,000 copies) on her naturally aborted baby; 3 Her novels, including Penelope and the quasi-novel Un uomo (1979, 820,000 copies), her declaration of 3 alla guerra (1961), love for Alexis Panagulis and political expose´ of Greece under military rule. Gli antipatici (1963) Every book contributed, as critics have pointed out, to the creation of an and Insciallah autobiographical persona which has been, in writer Michele Prisco’s words, (1990) were, at least initially, less her most successful literary creation, i.e., the gutsy, tough war reporter who successful, though brings the same toughness to anything she writes about, the young woman Insciallah, which who dares to enter a man’s world, become a professional journalist and was first serialized in Corriere, won the question the most powerful men on earth, and at the same time who is not SuperBancarella shy to explore new sexual and emotional territories in ways that seemed to prize and has sold mirror the feminist movement of the 1970s. This reputation for toughness, 600,000 copies (Zaccuri 1997). for brutal sincerity (brutal hence sincere) and for being an eyewitness remained with her. Together, these qualities made up her auctoritas.Asin her other texts, in La rabbia e L’orgoglio both the main text and the preface begin with a self-reflexive, autobiographical incipit. To the Readers: I had chosen silence. I had chosen exile. Because in America, and the time has come to shout it loud and clear, I live like a political refugee. I live in a political self-exile 4 Translations from that I imposed on myself, at the same time as my father did, many years ago. That La rabbia e is, from the time when we both realized that to live side by side with an Italy where l’orgoglio and from ideals lay on the rubbish heap had become too difficult, too painful, and other Italian sources are my own unless disappointed offended wounded we left behind the great majority of our fellow otherwise indicated. citizens. (Fallaci 2001: 7)4 CANNONS AND RUBBER BOATS ........................447 Francesca Orsini The first part of the main text continues with her personal anger at the many people (?) in Italy as well as Palestine who toasted the attack on the Twin Towers. It was this deeply-felt indignation which prompted her to ‘break her silence’. Personal reaction and strong, gut feelings are two of the basic ingredients of the heady mixture of Fallaci’s writings. Another source of her appeal, again thinking back to my teenager self, was the fact that, in an age when political debates and arguments were always couched in an extremely abstract and abstruse language (politichese), Fallaci wrote clearly and directly and made politics a matter of personalities. We must remember that media interviews then were not the ubiquitous phenomenon they are now. It gave a rare frisson to read her direct questioning of Henry Kissinger, Golda Meir or Yasser Arafat, her hammering them until she either got replies or showed that her subjects were shying away from the ‘truth’ she was after.